Silence of an Angel
by Featherian Kari
Summary: A little bit of a twist on the normal Mudshipping story...My first fic in a long while, please read and review


All I really have to say about this is: Ta-da.

Disclaimer: Golden Sun and all related characters are the property of Nintendo and Camelot Software. This story is not owned or affiliated in any way with those parties.

****

*The Meeting*

She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her movements were elegant, yet swift as she helped the old man. Her long blue hair flowed like water as she walked.

"She must be the town healer, Mia…," thought Isaac. He saw her smile as the old man thanked her. Then, all of a sudden, and a bright light shone through the window. Mia's head snapped up, and she looked in the direction of the Mercury Lighthouse. She ran out the door pas Isaac and his friends without looking at them.

"Well that was rude!" Garet scoffed. "She just ran out the door without saying anything!"

"Thanks for stating the obvious, Garet." Ivan said. He turned to Isaac. "Do you think we should follow her?"

Isaac had been staring at the door. He broke out of his trance and asked Ivan, "Do you remember what those two kids said about Mia?"

Ivan blinked a couple of times. "I'm not exactly sure, but I'll try to remember."

__

-Flashback-

'Are you looking for Mia?" the girl asked. Isaac and his friends had arrived in the town of Imil earlier that day. The town had been hit with a disease, and everyone was looking for Mia, the only healer in town. "You just missed her. She went to the old couple's house near the front of town. Have you been there?"

Isaac shook his head. "We haven't been there. I guess we'll head down there now and see if we can meet up with her."

The girl nodded, and then got an odd solemn look on her face. "There is something you should know about her, though…"

Garet waved his hand, and interrupted. "We don't need details; let's just go find this girl. I'm getting really cold just standing here!" He started to walk back outside. Ivan blinked and ran to catch up to him. Isaac thanked the girl, and followed his friends outside.

__

-End Flashback-

"Whatever it was," Ivan said, "I guess it wasn't that important." He glanced at Garet, who laughed nervously.

"Well, I think we should follow her." Isaac said, as he walked outside. He turned to where the Mercury Lighthouse stood. "If she went to the lighthouse, it means she knows about it. We can ask her if she knows anything about the elemental stars, the lighthouses, or even Saturos and Menardi."

Garet and Ivan nodded in agreement.

"All right, it's settled. We're going to the Mercury Lighthouse!"

***

Mia walked up to the lighthouse. The absence of sound was eerie. Many things were on her mind, mainly the question of who got into the lighthouse. She started to walk to the door that led inside, but was forced to stop. A statue blocked the entrance. There was no way to move it over, since there was a gap in the floor between her and the statue. Her eyes drifted to the ground. Whomever that had gotten inside must have put it there. She thought about going back to Imil, and ignoring what had happened at the lighthouse. No, she couldn't. She was the only one around capable of protecting the lighthouse. She had to stay.

***

"Well, we're here." Isaac, Garet, and Ivan were standing outside of the Mercury Lighthouse. The tall blue tower didn't seem dangerous. But the three knew that if it was lit, it could bring about the destruction of their world.

Isaac took a deep breath and said, "Shall we go inside?" The others nodded, a determined look on their faces. They stepped up to the door and pushed it. The door swung open, showing the entry room. In the back of the room stood Mia. She seemed to be looking for something. "An exit, maybe?" Isaac thought. He scanned the room as well, but didn't find a door other than the one that lead outside. Then he noticed an oddly placed statue in the back of the room. He motioned for Garet and Ivan that he would go to the back and try to move the statue. They nodded and he started toward the statue.

As he walked closer to Mia, he heart started to beat faster. He was nervous, and many thoughts were running through his head. He was behind her now. Taking a deep breath, Isaac tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around, obviously startled. She stared at Isaac, a look of question upon her face.

"There's a door behind that statue, isn't there?" Isaac asked. Mia nodded and pointed at the gap. She watched curiously, as Isaac stepped up to the edge of the floor. He lifted his hand and cast Move on the statue. The large Psynergetic hand moved the statue to the left, revealing a doorway blocked by a barrier. Isaac blinked, and looked over at Mia. She was looking at Isaac with a confused look on her face. Mia then noticed the barrier in the doorway. Putting her hands in front of her, she cast a Psynergetic spell of her own on the barrier. It disappeared in a flash.

Garet and Ivan had been watching this scene unfold. Garet turned to Ivan sand said, "That was the same spell she cast on the old guy back in town!" Ivan hushed him and concentrated on watching Isaac and Mia.

Mia turned to Isaac, a slight smile on her face. Isaac blinked, but then smiled as well. The look on his face covered up the fact that he was getting more and more nervous the longer that he stood near Mia.

Mia's gaze drifted back to the doorway. Without looking at Isaac again, she quickly jumped the gap in front of the doorway and went through. Isaac lifted an eyebrow. "Why didn't she say anything?" he wondered. He turned to see Garet and Ivan coming up to him.

"She's a weird girl, isn't she?" Garet said. "I haven't heard her say anything. Did she speak to you Isaac?" Isaac shook his head. Ivan jumped across the gap in front of the door.

"I think we should keep following her. I have a few questions I'd like to ask that girl." He said, looking at Isaac.

"I agree. Let's go." Isaac answered. He and Garet jumped the gap and walked through the door.

They didn't expect to see what they saw next. A large Lizard Man was in the room, blocking Mia from moving forward. It didn't look like it would leave her alone anytime soon.

Isaac, Garet, and Ivan drew their swords. They were going to use a tried-and-true tactic to defeat this monster. Isaac jumped at the Lizard Man, striking it with his sword. The wallop only left a small scratch. Garet and Ivan, stationed behind the beast, cast Fire and Ray. The Lizard Man snarled in pain and spun around. Its tail hit Isaac, tripping him. It aimed its Water Blessing attack at Garet, sending him flying into the wall. The monster turned to Ivan, preparing to attack again. But it didn't have a chance to. Isaac stood up, and unleashed Flint, his Djinn. He struck the creature in the back killing. It faded away with a final monstrous cry. Isaac turned to Mia, who was gazing at the spot the monster was standing a short time ago. She turned to Isaac, nodded her head in thanks, and ran out through the door at the back the room. 

"She didn't say anything again…" Isaac mumbled, and walked over to Garet. "Need a hand up? Or a Cure? Or both?" He reached down to Garet, who took his hand. Isaac pulled him up.

"Nah, don't need the Cure. Only got slammed against a hard, stone wall. I'm standing up, so I'm okay." Garet looked around the room. "That girl left again, didn't she?" Isaac nodded and pointed to the door in the back.

"Should we keep following her? It's getting kind of tedious." Ivan said. He walked over to where Isaac and Garet were standing.

"We're climbing up the lighthouse ourselves, so even if we don't intend on following her, we're going to anyway." Isaac answered. "Let's get going. The longer we stand around here musing, the farther Mia gets away from us. She seems to know this place quite well."

'Well, she does seem to be a Mercury Adept." Ivan said as he walked to the door. Isaac and Garet were quick to follow him out and into the next room.

The room had a strange statue sitting in the back of the room. It was surrounded by a pool of sparkling blue water. A small platform was in the middle of the pool. A post with some writing on it stood in from of the water. Isaac walked up to it and read the inscription aloud. "He who honors the heart of the goddess shall stand at the center of all, like a swan in the center of a rippling pond."

Garet tilted his head. "What is THAT supposed to mean?" He looked over at Ivan, who seemed to be thinking over the conundrum.

"It probably has something to do with that statue…" He mused. "But there doesn't seem to be a way to get to the statue. And even if we got to the statue, what would we do?" 

"Let's keep going. We'll save this puzzle for later." Isaac ran out the door on the left, Garet and Ivan following closely behind.

After running through two rooms and going down a set of stairs, the three boys met up with Mia again. She was standing a little back from a gap in the floor, the other side blocked by a statue. Isaac walked up to her. "Need help again?" She nodded, and pointed at the gap and the statue. Isaac smiled. "No problem." He walked up to the hedge of the gap and used Move on the statue, dragging it into the hole. He turned back to Mia. "There, does that help?" She nodded and smiled.

"She still hasn't said anything…this is weird." Garet whispered to Ivan, who agreed. They watched as Mia walked up to Isaac while taking a pad of paper and a charcoal stick out. She wrote something on the paper and showed it to Isaac.

'Do you have business in the lighthouse, too?'

Isaac blinked, and stayed silent for a moment before nodding his head. Mia wrote something again, and displayed it to Isaac.

'I am sure there will be more places ahead that I cannot pass alone. Only those of the Mercury Clan are permitted to enter this place. However, I sense something special about you. I feel that I can trust you!'

Isaac read over what Mia had written a couple of times before nodding like an idiot again. He didn't know what else to do, or what to say.

"Okay, time out!" Garet stepped up to where Isaac and Mia were standing. He grabbed the pad of paper from Mia and read over what she had written. After he finished he held it up and asked, "What is this for?" Mia reached for it, but Garet held it out of her reach. "Well, what is this for? Say something!" Garet said as he moved away from Mia, who was getting quite annoyed.

"Garet, give that back to her!" Ivan ran behind Garet and tried to grab the notepad, and ended up tripping him and Garet, sending them to the floor. The notebook slid across the floor and stopped at Isaac's feet. He picked it up and handed it to Mia, who smiled in thanks. Garet got up and brushed himself off, then got a scowl on his face.

"You," he said, pointing at Mia, "have some explaining to do. So start explaining!" She sighed lightly, and wrote on her notepad.

'Explaining? About what? The lighthouse? About why I write on this notepad?'

"About…, about that!" Garet yelled, pointing at the notepad.

'I use this because I cannot speak.'

Garet stared open-mouthed at the words on the paper. Ivan came over and looked, as well as Isaac. Garet spoke again, quietly. "You mean…you can't speak?" Mia nodded. "At all?" She nodded again. "As in, nothing? You can't make a sound?" Mia nodded again, a little more annoyingly. "Really?" Garet leaned in closer to Mia's face. "Lemme see, open your mouth so…" Mia interrupted him with a smack over the head. He backed away, rubbing the now sore spot.

Isaac was stunned at this revelation. He went over what Mia had said , or rather written, earlier about being trusted and that she hinted that more puzzles lied ahead. He pondered over the situation. "She obviously wants to come with us." He thought. "Not that I wouldn't mind traveling with her, it's just that it might cause some…problems." He glanced over at Garet who was eyeing Mia strangely, while she edged away from him. Ivan seemed to be looking around the room. He sighed, and then decided that they should get moving. He walked up to Mia. "I'm guessing that you know this place pretty well." She nodded. "Okay then, you can come with us." She nodded again, then glanced at Garet, who smiled nervously. She wrote on her notepad and handed it to Isaac.

'As long as he stays away from me, I'll come with you."

Isaac laughed softly and said, "It's a deal. Let's get going. If there are others in the lighthouse, they're probably way ahead of us now." The others agreed , and they walked into the next room.

After walking through a room with some waterfalls, the now group of four arrived in a very odd room. There were pipes laid about in a strange pattern. A pipe near the door had water pouring out of it

"Pipes? What idiot would put PIPES in a room?" Garet scoffed.

"An idiot who doesn't want people coming through the lighthouse." Ivan answered, gazing about the room. "It seems to be a sort of puzzle. No clue on how to solve it though."

"I thought you were some boy genius, Ivan! This shouldn't be that hard to figure out!" Garet said as he leaned against one of the pipes. It just so happened that this pipe wasn't connected to anything, and Garet's weight sent it rolling backwards. It stopped against a stone block, but left Garet sprawled on his back on the floor. The pipe that had rolled now connected the pipe with the water coming out of it to another one below it. A gushing noise was heard as the water flowed through the pipes, sending the water spurting out of another pipe.

"Ah, I get it now!" Ivan exclaimed. "It seems we have to push the pipes around to direct the water to other places so we can get through the room! Thanks for the help, Garet."

Garet groaned and stood up. "Yeah, sure, if you call help smacking your back on the floor." Isaac laughed and Mia smiled. Ivan walked further into the room. He stopped at a pipe that was spurting out water.

"It looks like we'll have to get pushed by the water to go any further…who's up for getting wet?" He turned around to look at the others. "Who wants to go first?" No one moved or said anything. Ivan sighed. "Fine, I'll go." He stepped into the torrent of water and was forced forward from the water pressure. He lost his balance and landed on his face. Garet laughed.

"It's nice to know I'm not the only clumsy one here!"

Ivan stood up and squeezed some excess water out of his clothing. "Well, let's see you come through here!"

Garet hesitated. "Um, er, well…you see…" He chuckled nervously. Isaac nudged him forward.

"You're going to have to go through eventually. Go now and get it over with." Isaac said.

"Oh…fine." Garet marched forward, shut his eyes and stepped into the gushing water. The force sent him crashing into Ivan.

Isaac looked at Mia, and motioned to the pipe. "Ladies first." Mia smirked and stepped up to the surging water. Garet and Ivan quickly moved away so that she wouldn't crash into them. Amazingly, she went through the water without losing her balance. Garet and Ivan looked at each other while Isaac came through the water.

"Okay, now that this fiasco is over…" Isaac walked ahead, down and up the set of stairs nearby, but stopped again.

"Isaac, what is it…oh no." Garet looked at where Isaac was standing. Another let of water was shooting out of a pipe, blocking the path. "No way am I going through another one of those!" Isaac and Ivan nodded to each other, then grabbed one of Garet's arms each and started to drag him to the water. Mia just stood there, shaking her head.

Luckily for Garet, the next room didn't have any water pipe conundrums. It was just a simple push the statue onto a button to open the door puzzle. Which they did, of course. The room after that was quite simple, with only a slide leading to a hole in the floor. Since there was nowhere else to go but backwards, the group slid down the slide. They landed on a block in the center of some water.

"This is the room we were in earlier…" Ivan said. "Isaac, what did that strange post say?"

Isaac thought for a moment, then replied, "He who honors the heart of the goddess shall stand at the center of all, like a swan in the center of a rippling pond. Whatever that supposed to mean." He then felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Mia, and she was pointing at the large statue in the back of the room. "You think it has something to do with that statue?" She nodded and wrote on her notepad.

'We should try casting some Psynergy on the statue and see what happens.'

"Hmm, good idea." Isaac replied after reading the sentence. "But what Psynergy? I don't see how Move or Catch could work here. Ivan, try your Whirlwind." Ivan jumped over to the statue's hands and cast Whirlwind. A light wind blew for a couple of seconds, but nothing else happened.

"That definitely didn't work." Ivan said after jumping back to the platform. He turned to Mia and asked, "That Psynergy you used back in the village…why don't you try that?" Mia blinked and wrote:

'Why do you think that my Ply power will work?'

"Well, this is the Mercury Lighthouse, and you are a Mercury Adept. Just simple thinking." She nodded and jumped over to the statue. Closing her eyes, she held out her hands and cast Ply. A Psynergetic pixie-like creature appeared and touched the statue with it's power. A bright light flashed in the room, and golden sparkles danced about. When the lighting returned to normal, the tile in the middle of the floor was now glowing. Mia turned back to the group and shrugged.

"I don't feel any different." Garet said, looking around. "Do you Isaac? Ivan?" Both boys shook their heads.

'I wonder why the tile is glowing now. It must mean something' Mia wrote.

"Like a swan in the center of a rippling pond…" Isaac mumbled. He looked at the water. "It has to do with the water." He turned to the others and said, "This is a long shot, and you'll probably think I'm insane, but let's try jumping on the water."

"You can't jump ON water, you jump IN it!" Garet contradicted.

"I know you think it's crazy, but it's worth a try." Isaac situated himself at the edge of the block. He took a deep breath and jumped towards the glittering blue liquid. Ivan shielded himself, expecting a splash, but none came. Isaac was standing on the water!

"Okay…so you proved me wrong." Garet said. He and the others watched as Isaac jumped two more times and landed back on the floor. Ivan nervously jumped off of the platform, following Isaac's exact path. Mia was soon to follow. Garet, without any fear, jumped onto the water, but stopped a jump away from the floor.

"Garet, don't be fooling around!" Ivan said. Garet laughed and jumped down, parallel to where the floor was. "Come on, we don't have all day!" Ivan yelled again.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." He went to jump upwards again, but instead of standing on the water, he fell in.

"It looks like this power has it's limits…I think it was three jumps on the water before he fell in." Isaac mused.

"Don't just stand there, get me out! It's cold!" Garet said while thrashing in the water. Isaac and Ivan reached out and pulled Garet out of the water. He shook himself, almost like a dog, spraying water on everyone else. They glared at him, and he shrugged. "We were wet already!" Isaac just shook his head.

The group exited the room, and noticed that the tiles in the water in a room they had already been through were now glowing, opening up a new path. A little surprise was in store for them when the walked through the door. The door had been behind a waterfall, and they ended up walking through it. Garet was quite peeved.

"Why is there so much water in this place?!" he whined as he squeezed out his hair for the third time.

"Quit complaining, Garet." Isaac said, while he walked over to a treasure chest in the room. "At least we're getting some cool items." He kicked the chest, but instead of it popping open, it sprouted arms and legs! The creature hissed and Isaac jumped back. "It's a Mimic! Get ready to fight!" Isaac drew his Elven Rapier and stood in an attack position. Garet and Ivan also drew their weapons and prepared for battle. The faux treasure chest lunged at Isaac, it's maw wide open. Isaac dodged the attack and countered with his Spire attack. The sharp stones fell onto the creature, dazing it. It shook off the attack and fired a Wind Slash at Garet and Ivan. Garet sidestepped the attack, nimbly for once, while Ivan ran around the back of the creature and cast Plasma. The Mimic was injured some, it's resistance to Jupiter Psynergy now apparent. It then noticed Mia, standing away from the others. She was a prime target. It roared and dashed towards her, baring it's teeth.

"Mia, watch out!" Ivan yelled. It seemed to be too late, she would surely be attacked. But at the last second, she raised her hands and cast a powerful blast of freezing ice at the creature. It screeched in pain as it backed up, a fatal mistake. Isaac hit it with a Vorpal Slash unleash, killing the evil creature. He sheathed his sword and went over to Mia.

"Are you okay? It didn't hit you before you cast your Psynergy, did it?" She shook her head, and smiled. Isaac sighed, relieved. He turned to the others and said, "Let's move on."

After some backtracking that included more super happy water-walking fun, the group reached another pipe puzzle room. Luckily for Garet, this one did not require walking through the water to get to the pipes. The pipes, when pushed together, made water flow into the room they had just passed through, filling the center with water, allowing them to cross the room to the other door. The next room had nothing extremely special in it, only a button in the middle of the room.

"I bet that this button opens that door over there." Ivan said, pointing to a closed door in the middle of the room. He stood on the button, forcing the door to open. Smiling, he stepped off of the small button. The door promptly shut.

"Well, that doesn't help." Garet said. "What are we supposed to do, leave someone here on the button?"

"No…there's probably some trick to this. Another puzzle." Ivan tilted his head to the open door on the right side of the room that led upstairs. The group went through that door, wondering what would be there. They were met with another infamous pipe puzzle. Garet groaned.

"When will we be through with these stupid puzzles!?" he yelled. Isaac shook his head, and went about putting the pipes together so that the conveniently placed statue would fall down the conveniently placed hole in the floor. They went back downstairs after completing the puzzle, and pushed the statue onto the button from before. The door opened, and no one would have to stay behind. The Adepts walked through another hallway in the lighthouse, leading them to a room with a few more pipes in it, and no other exit.

"Now what? Some other long trek up some stairs and then another pipe puzzle? Or maybe some group of statues need moving? Or maybe…" Garet kept ranting while Mia stepped up and pushed one of the pipes up. It joined with the others creating a path for the water to flow through. The stream of water pushed back a section of the wall, revealing a door. Garet gave an odd look to Mia, who smiled.

The Adept group ran through the hallways, only stopping to pick up a Mercury Djinn along the way. Isaac could feel that they were getting near the top of the lighthouse. He cold feel the presence of other people than just them. After walking through one last water fall and pushing a statue to the side, they entered an odd room. A rainbow shone above their heads, created by a nearby statue. Suddenly, Isaac heard a voice in his head.

"He who honors the goddess of rainbows shall be guided to the heavens upon wings of fluid grace."

Garet, Ivan and Isaac looked at each other and nodded. They had all heard the strange instructions, and linked it to the statue earlier.

"Mia, use your Ply Psynergy on the statue over there." Isaac said. Mia nodded and cast her magic on the sculpture. Sparkles appeared in the room, lighting it up. The room shook as the waterfall started to move upwards, defying gravity, instead of moving down like it had before. Mia looked at it with a solemn look. She rushed over and stepped into the water. Isaac and the other watched stunned as it carried her up to who-knows-where. They ran up to the torrent of water. Isaac quickly jumped in, and was swept away. Garet, albeit nervous, stepped in as well, and Ivan followed close behind. The Adepts were shot up to the very top of the lighthouse: the Aerie.

Isaac got up and looked around at his friends. They were now on the Lighthouse Aerie. They regrouped themselves, and rushed to the center. A bright blue ball was shining there, floating ominously.

"No!" Garet said, looking at the ball in horror. "It's too late! The lighthouse has been lit already!" Mia also had a shocked look on her face.

'The beacon cannot be lit without the Mercury Star…what has happened?' she wrote. Isaac and Ivan looked at each other sadly.

"Mia…the Elemental Stars were stolen from the Sol Sanctum on Mt. Aleph." Mia got a confused look on her face.

'Are you healers from there? From Sol Sanctum?' Isaac shook his head and Garet turned to Mia.

"We came from Vale, the town at the bottom of Mt. Aleph, but we're not healers. We came from there to recover the three Elemental Stars." Mia blinked and looked at Garet.

'Did you say Vale?' she wrote quickly.

"Yes." Garet said. "Our village is there to protect the sanctum, but the Stars still got stolen." Mia looked down with a saddened look on her face.

'Your story reminds me of my clan…I have failed in the one duty placed upon me…' Isaac looked at the blue-haired angel. He wished he could help her somehow. All of a sudden, a female voice called out.

"Isaac! Garet!" The two, plus Mia and Ivan, spun around, looking for the source of the voice. On the left tower stood people that Isaac and Garet hadn't seen for a long time.

Felix huffed. "So it's you, Isaac!" Isaac grunted at the sound of his voice. He was happy to see that Jenna and Kraden were alive and seemingly well, but he wasn't so happy to see Felix or Menardi, who was smirking.

"Heh! So, those kids are still alive? I'm surprised." She glanced at Jenna and Kraden, then turned back to Isaac's group. "You came this whole way just to save Jenna and the old man?"

Garet growled. "That's not all! We also want the Elemental Stars back!"

Menardi shook her head. "In other words, you've come to stop us." She grinned a sadistic smile. "We have no choice then…we'll take care of you before you can do any more harm!"

Jenna looked over at Felix. She didn't want her brother hurting her childhood friend. Felix looked back and saw the worry on his sister's face. He shook his head, and stepped near Menardi. Jenna and Kraden got a little more worried as another voice called out.

"Menardi, wait!" Saturos appeared from behind the large floating ball on the lighthouse. Menardi started to speak, but Saturos interrupted, "No need. I've heard everything." He turned to the group of Adepts. "You were lucky to survive the eruption on Mt. Aleph. You've endured so much, and now you want to just throw your lives away?" The group was silent. Saturos sneered. "Fine then. If that is your wish, prepare to have it granted."

"Saturos, are you sure you want to fight them alone?" Menardi called out.

"I can't have you come help me and just leave the hostages alone, now can I?" Saturos growled. Menardi shook her head. "Then go, head for the next lighthouse while I take care of these pests!"

Menardi didn't leave yet. She turned to Jenna. "Come here, girl." Jenna looked at Kraden and Felix, then shook her head. Menardi scowled. "Do you mean to defy me?" Jenna glared at the woman, who huffed. "Felix, I'd tell your sister to obey me if you hope to keep her unharmed." Felix sighed and turned to Jenna.

"Jenna, please, do as she says for now." He pleaded. Jenna, still unsure, turned to Kraden. The old scholar nodded his head. "It will be alright, Jenna."

Felix looked back over to the other group. "They shouldn't have come after us…" Jenna said quietly, to herself, "I'm sorry Isaac, Garet.." As the elevator started to go down, Menardi called out to Saturos, "I'm counting on you!" Kraden quickly yelled, "Isaac, Garet, don't die!"

Garet started over to where they had been just a few moments ago. Saturos stopped him, and said "If you want to save them, you have to beat me first!" Garet quickly stepped back. Ivan looked at him.

"What's wrong? It's not like you to step back from a fight."

"He's strong, very strong. I could sense his power when I faced him." Garet said, clenching his fists.

"We'll have to match his power then!"

Saturos laughed. "You think you whelps can match my power! Hah! You're overestimating yourselves. I'll just have to teach you all a lesson!" He started to move towards the group, but stopped and turned uneasily to the lighthouse beacon. He shook some and said quietly "No…the light of Mercury…it's weakening my Psynergy!" He regained his composure and turned back to the Adepts. He drew his sword and stood in a fighting stance. "Let's get this over with!"

Isaac, Garet and Ivan drew their weapons. Mia stood a little off to the side of them. She should sense that this man was a Mars Adept. She had to use her Psynergy wisely and at the correct times so she could exploit his weaknesses. Saturos rushed towards Isaac, sword drawn. Their swords met in a clash of sparks and cold metal. Saturos, being larger and somewhat stronger than Isaac had the advantage and was pushing the boy back. Garet quickly cast a Fireball to distract Saturos. The man laughed. "If you thought that was going to hurt me, you were wrong!" He surrounded his sword with Psynergetic flames and struck Garet. He went skidding across the Aerie floor into a statue. While Saturos was smirking at his work, Mia quickly cast an Ice spell, hitting Saturos dead on. He quickly turned to her and yelled a battle cry, casting Fireball. Mia barely dodged the hot flames. She ran over to Garet and quickly healed and helped him stand up. Saturos could feel the Lighthouse's power weakening his own rapidly. He had to limit his Psynergy use. On the other hand, Mia was feeling a power she had never felt before. Her Psynergy was strengthened by the beacon of the Lighthouse, and it showed when she attacked Saturos with a Djnni unleash with the help of Sleet. Ivan cast a couple Plasma spells to help weaken their foe while dodging some of Saturos' raining Fireballs.

Saturos was getting fed up with this battle. He wanted to end it quickly, but instead it had drawn out much longer than he had wanted it to. He had to finish this now. Gathering up his energy into his sword again, he prepared a major Psynergetic attack. Isaac yelled to the others. "Careful! He wants to end this!" Mia knew that this was the time. She tapped into the energy of her Djinni, Sleet, and brought out a powerful Mercury summon. Saturos didn't see the attack come until it was too late. The watery blast knocked into him, sending him flying into a statue. He collapsed, and didn't get up.

"Isaac, we did it!" Garet said, running to his friend. "We got him!" Saturos groaned and struggled to get up.

"I didn't know…who would've thought that Mercury Lighthouse had such power? I would've won…if only my Psynergy had been at full strength…"

Ivan looked confused. "You said you were weakened…what does that mean?" Saturos stayed silent.

"I shall tell you want he means…" a mysterious voice said. Mia's eyes widened, her face turned to a look of shock. Alex, the Mercury Adept, stepped out from behind the beacon. Mia glared at him. He smiled. "It's been a while, Mia."

Isaac and the others looked at Mia. She stepped up to Alex.

'Do you realize what you have done?' she wrote.

"Of course! I have unsealed a great power that has long been gone from this world. Mercury, the lighthouse of water…what a mighty force." Mia shook her head and stepped closer to him.

'Alex, what's wrong? Are you mad!?' He laughed.

"Of course not! Don't you understand? The lighthouse granted you great power during your fight with Saturos." Mia looked down and nodded slowly. Alex smiled again. "See? The Lighthouse granted you limitless Psynergy."

'Psynergy? Are you telling me that my powers come from Psynergy?' Alex nodded.

"We are members of the Mercury Clan, masters of Water Psynergy."

Garet looked at Isaac. "Wait a minute, she's an Adept!?" Isaac gave him a strange look and nodded. "You knew this whole time and didn't tell us?"

"Well, wasn't it obvious?" Isaac said. Garet sighed.

"So, the lighthouse weakened Saturos' power?" Ivan said, and Alex nodded. "Why? And didn't he know that would happen?"  
"Yes, he did know." Alex said, looking at the Mars Adept. "He just didn't appreciate the full power of the Lighthouse. And it happened because he is a Mars Adept, which is aligned with Fire. Fire and Water are opposing elements."

"So that's why we won against him…" Garet mused. Alex shook his head.

"No. I watched your battle from afar. I was certain that Saturos would win, so I did not help him. But you have become great fighters in such a short time."

Saturos grunted, and slowly stood up. Ivan was shocked. "He's up again!? But we beat him!"

"Me, beaten? Never! I lost to the lighthouse, not to you!"

Alex smirked and spoke again. "I was merely stalling you until Saturos regained his strength." Mia scowled at him. Alex put his arm around Saturos and started to walk away. Garet took a step towards them. "I won't let you escape!"

"Oh? And what will you try to do, boy? Finish him off?" Alex chided. Isaac put a hand on Garet's shoulder and shook his head. Alex smiled. "Good. You wouldn't have a chance with our combined powers anyway." He then suddenly teleported. The Adepts looked around and then saw him appear on the other side of the main tower. Garet said, angrily, "He warped again!" Mia turned to him.

'Again? He has done that before?' Isaac nodded and said, "Yes, he did that in Sol Sanctum"

Ivan turned to Mia. "If he can teleport…does that mean you can teleport as well Mia?" She shook her head.

'He's never had that power before.' Alex turned to the girl and said "Well, I can't stay the same forever, now can I?" He looked over at the now returned elevator. "It seems my ride has returned. So, I bid you adieu." He teleported to the elevator and called out. "If you expected to get the Stars back from us, Menardi has them! I know you will be after us for them. I look forward to our next meeting." The elevator started down the tower.

Mia looked down, sadly. Isaac slowly, carefully, put his hand on her shoulder. She stood up, and wrote something very slowly on her notepad.

'I don't deserve to be a healer. We couldn't stop them from lighting the beacon. I've failed my clan, failed in my duty…'

Ivan shook his head. "That's not true! We still have a chance at beating them!" Mia smiled and wrote:

'Then, we should hurry. We can't let Alex get away with this!'

Isaac looked very surprised. "We? You mean…you're coming with us?" Mia nodded.

"But Mia, the people of Imil need you! Remember the epidemic?" Ivan said.

'It will be alright. I heard a saying once, "The fountain shall be filled as long as light fills the lighthouse." It means that the fountain will have healing waters running through it now. I do have mixed feelings about leaving, but I'm sure that the village will be fine as long as the fountain continues to flow with the Water of Hermes.' She smiled. The others smiled as well. They walked over to the elevator, and took it down to the bottom of the lighthouse. People were walking around the area, filling bottles with the healing waters of the fountain. Isaac filled the Empty Bottle that he had with him with some of the water, just in case of an emergency.

***

The group decided to tell Megan and Justin, Mia's two apprentices, about what had happened and where they were going. Upon their arrival in the healer's sanctum, the two kids ran up to them.

"Mia! We were so worried that you wouldn't come back!" Justin said. "Did you see? The Mercury Lighthouse was lit!" Mia nodded.

"You mean you already know?" Megan asked. Mia nodded again. "And what's with the sad look on your face?" Mia wrote something down and showed it to the young girl.

'I'm going to be joining Isaac on his quest. I have to. It's to protect the world.'

Justin sighed. "You said that if the lighthouse was lit the world would be in danger. That's why you're leaving, right?" Mia concurred. The boy sighed again. "There's nothing we can do the, I guess…"

"We can't stop you." Megan added. "I mean, after all you're trying to protect the Mercury Clan."

"Don't worry! We'll take care of the village!" Justin said brightly. Megan nodded in agreement.

"I'll try to heal as well as you can Mia! Good luck on your journey!" Mia smiled and waved good-bye. She turned back to Isaac and the others and nodded. It was alright to leave without any worries now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, here it is. That Golden Sun story that I've promised in my lookup for about three months now. Yes, it took me that long to write this. Maybe the next chapter won't take as long. Yes, this chapter is insanely long, and I've just started. So tell me if I'm just wasting space here or if I have something good coming out of this.

~Kari


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